Spring-felly.



F. M. PRATHER.

SPRING FELLY. APPLICATION FILED Hmm, 191s.

yPatented Nov. 25

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EEJK MNROEPEATHER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SPRNG-FELLY.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed February 24, 1913. Serial No. 750,437.

latented Nov. 25, 1913.

To ffl/Z whom i may concern l lie it known that 1, FRANK M. PMTHER, a citizen oi' the United States, residing at Los Angeles. in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Spring-belly, ot which the' tollowing is a specification.

"llhis invention relates to spring tellies and one object of the invention is to canse `any eccentric position bet-Ween the telly members when operation, caused by a load, to distribute the load equallyon all of the springs. `Under load, each spring will be elongated the same distance..

A further object is to so .arrange the springs that they will bringv the 'elly mem' bers to concentric position when not under load. Whether evenly distributed or evenly tensioned or balanced.

A further object is to provide a construction whereby springs may be used which will sustain the heaviest loads andyet be sensitive to respond to slight variations with light loads. v

Another object is to provide a construction which will permit onev telly member to move circumferentielly with respect 'to the other member and such movement being resisted by all of the springs, thereby removing motor shock when the telly is used on a driving Wheel.

@ther objects 4and advantages Will be brought. out in the following description.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a Wheel equipped with my invention, part of the side plate being removed. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line :UL-m2, Fig. 1. Fig.- 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the clly showing the method of attaching the springs. Fig. t is a section on line 4-x4, Fig. 2f. Fig. 5 is a perspective of an outer spring fastener. Fig. G is a perspective or' a slotted disk which locks the spring fastener in place.

rlhe telly comprises t\vo members, an inner member 1 and an outer member 2, the latter being formed in tivo sections 8 with an annular rabbet Il. The outer member 2 carries the tire- The outer mbember is flexibly supported with relation to the inner l member by coil sprii'lgs which are arranged. transversely of the telly and are connected between the two members. Thus one end of each spring is connected to one of the folly members, While the other end `of each spring is. connected to the other telly member. The springs are arranged in two sets, the springs of the respective sets being attached to the same telly member so as to exert an opposing pull on the said felly member.

1n the present embodiment. I have shown the inner member 1 as provided with a center rib G and the outer member 2 With in* wardly projecting ribs 7. One set of coil springs 8 is stretched between the rib'G and one of' the ribs 7, and the other set of springs 8 is stretched between the rib 6 and the act to hold the tvvo felly members from transverse 'movement WithV respect to each other. These springs are staggered as indicated in Fig. 1 and may be secured in position in any desired. manner. shown 1 provide spring fasteners 9 which are sWivelcd in the rib 6, each having a perforated lug 10 with which the end of the spring 11 is engaged. The other end of the 12, shown in detail in 5, which has a perforated lug 13 to receive the end of the spring and its body 14C being swiveled in a recess 15 in the outer rib 7 and having a. groove 16. A disk 17 having a radial slot 18 engages the groove 16 and lies within the recess 15 and thereby retains the fastener 12.

the disk 17 inside the recess 15, preventing the disk from slipping sidewise and disengaging the groove 16, yet forming a device easy to disengage Whenever it is desired to do so.

To house the springs for excluding foreign substance, side' plates 19 are arranged on each side of the telly and are secured thereto by bolts 20. The outer edges of the plates 19 have a close it slidably on the side faces of the outer elly member 2. It will be noted that the springs 8 exert an inward tension on both outer telly sections 3 tending to hold the two sections 3 interlocked With each other rib 7, so that the two sets of springs' spring 11 is engaged With an outer l'astenerv The tension of the spring 11 serves to hold As herein' gate resistance of the springs` which resist other at the rabbet 4. so Vthat no fastening devices are necessary as thecombined pull of all the springs is very great.

In operation when the felly sustains -a load, the felly member l descends toward the road, thereby becoming eccentric to the outer felly member 2 which is supported by the road. All points on the inner felly member 1 lthusmove in strict vertical lines an equal distance. Thus if the eccentricity thusproduced isv one half an inch, each point on the circumference of the inner felly will move downward toward the ground one half an inch and will, therefore, move the inner' ends of all the springs one half an inch closer to the ground and as the outer ends of all the springs are held stationary by the outer felly member, each spring will therefore be tilted into an angular position such that its opposite ends occupy horizontal planes one half an inch apart, measured vertically. The result of this is that in assuming these angular positions the sprin s will all be stretched anequal amount an when the loadiis removed, the reaction of the springs will cause them to all move back to a horizontal position which will restore the inner felly member to concentricity with the outer felly member. `It will be seen that from this construction even if the springs are not of the same tension or are unevenly distributed that they will nevertheless all coperate in the aggregate to resist eccentric movement of the felly members, and will all coperate to restore the inner. felly member to center position when the load is removed. Thus, assuming that a number of springs havel been removed from the upper portion ofthe wheel in Fig. 1, and the load is placed on thewheel, the springs although unevenly distributed will all be moved to the same angular degree and will all sustain the same stretch',` and will act together toresist the eccentric movement of the members and will thereby resist the load to a degree corresponding to the aggregate pull exerted-upon all the springs which are present. It is not necessary, therefore, that all of the springs be of exactly the same tension or that they be perfectly distributed, as itis the aggreand determine the amount of eccentric movement. It is necessary that the springs be substantially balanced in number and pul on opposite sides of therib 6 in order to maintain the two felly members againstv Y transversamovement with respect to each other. It is also to be noted that under light loads and small vibrations of the felly lthat t springs will be swung laterally but a sl ght distance and the springswill permit of e lateral movement even though the sprin are of considerable strength. This .tricity of the spring increases the angularity of the springs increases, and the ratio of its resistance builds up and increases with the increase in angularity. Where the springs are in line with the felly members concentrically, the springs pull straight against each other and exert but little lifting effect when moved slightly angularly, but when their angle becomes more acute, the two sets ofv springs combine in their resistance to support the inner member.

It will now be apparent that this disposition of the parts permits one felly member to move circumferentially with respect to the other a certain amount, determined by the resistance of the springs and that this arelative movement will place all of the springs uniformly in the same angular position and cause them to uniformly resist this motion. This results in any shock from the motor being first imparted to the springs which absorb that shock and the sprinUs in reacting transfer the greater portion of the power that had thus been stored up in them,

with much less power thanfwhere the starting shock is not first absorbed and then .retransmitted to the traction member of the felly. This minimizes stalling of the motor when startin an excessively heavy load and thereby enabes motors of less power to be employed under such conditions in addition to relieving the machinery yfrom undue strains 'caused by the momentum or striking force of the fly-wheel. V

What I claim is: r 1. A spring felly comprising two felly members, the outerfelly member having two ribs, said ribs having recesses, spring fasteners extending into said recesses and having grooves, slotted'disks in said recesses engaging the groovesl of the spring fasteners, two sets of. springs, the .outer ends of the respective sets being engaged with f 1,079,925 i f '8 .l

members, the outerefeliy member having two ribs, ribs having recesses, sprin -festenere extending into said recesses an heving grooves, slotted disks in seid recesses engsging the grooves of the spring fasteners, tivo sets of springs, the outer ends of the respective sets being engaged with the spring fasteners in seid ribs, a rib on the inner eliy, and spring fasteners in said rib to which the inner ends of the respective setsliv)V of springs are attached.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set y hand at Winters, California. this 17th day f February, 1913.

FRANK MONROE FEATHER. In the presence ofy ELMER ELMFIELD, R. G. LAWSON. 

